Klingon Bird-of-Prey
For the 22nd century vessel, see Klingon Bird-of-Prey (22nd century). The Klingon Bird-of-Prey was a type of warship utilized by the Klingon Defense Force from the late 23rd century into the 24th century. The ships were so named because of the unusual bird-like shape of the wings and the long main hull. Birds-of-prey were built in several types, including the small D12-class scouts, and the larger B'rel-class and K'vort-class cruisers. (Star Trek Generations, TNG: "Rascals", TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise") History The earliest known use of the Bird-of-Prey was in 2285, when a bird-of-prey commanded by Kruge raided the Genesis Planet in an attempt to uncover the secrets of Project Genesis. The senior officers of the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|USS Enterprise]] captured the ship and renamed it the "[[HMS Bounty|HMS Bounty]]". (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock) : The Klingon Bird-of-Prey first appeared in ''Star Trek III, however, the Enterprise crew must have encountered that type of vessel before, because Sulu quickly identified the ship as a "bird-of-prey" when it decloaked.'' From their introduction, birds-of-prey were commonly equipped with cloaking devices. One prototype bird-of-prey, launched in 2293 under the command of General Chang, had the unusual ability of firing while the cloaking device was still engaged. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) The D12-class was retired from service by the mid-24th century due to faulty plasma coils. (Star Trek Generations) A Bird-of-Prey was ultimately responsible for the destruction of the Federation flagship [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)|USS Enterprise-D]]. After determining the Enterprise's shield frequency, the Bird-of-Prey destroyed the stardrive section of the Enterprise with a continual bombardment of disruptor and torpedo fire. However, the ship's faulty plasma coils were used in an elaborate plan by Data to cloak the ship, and it was destroyed with a single torpedo. (Star Trek Generations) Despite the age of the Bird-of-Prey design by the 2370s, the ships fought valiantly during the Dominion War and featured in every battle of the conflict. Interior Design Main Bridge .]] Due to their age and variety of configurations, Main Bridge design for the Birds-of-Prey included numerous design variations. The Bird-of-Prey encountered by the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|USS Enterprise]] in 2285 over the Genesis Planet featured the chair of the commanding officer on a raised platform, providing the captain with visual access to the main viewscreen on eyelevel. From his position, he could visually monitor all stations located in front of him, including the helm, navigation and tactical consoles. (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock) .]] Curiously enough, three months later, the same starship featured an all-different bridge as Captain Kirk and his crew steered the vessel to Earth. In the center of the room was located the captain's chair, with the vessel course control stations located in front of it. Aft to the captain's right was located the communications console, while aft to the captain's left were located engineering and scientific monitoring stations. ("Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home") One year later, the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A)|USS Enterprise-A]] confronted a Bird-of-Prey similar in layout, the only difference being that it provided the commanding officer with a direct link to the starship's weapons systems. (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) of a Klingon Bird-of-Prey]] In 2293, General Chang commanded a prototype Bird-of-Prey that had the ability to fire its weapons while it was cloaked. Its bridge was similar to that of the Birds-of-Prey, though it featured no consoles in front of Chang's command chair to obstruct his view of the main viewscreen, but instead featured the Helm station behind the captain's chair. This unique helm station incorporated a large wheel for directional control rather than conventional console-based controls. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) Ships of the Class Named * [[IKS Buruk|IKS Buruk]] * [[IKS Ch'tang|IKS Ch'tang]] * [[IKS Hegh'ta|IKS Hegh'ta]] * [[IKS Ki'tang|IKS Ki'tang]] * [[IKS Koraga|IKS Koraga]] * [[IKS Korinar|IKS Korinar]] * [[IKS M'Char|IKS M'char]] * [[IKS Malpara|IKS Malpara]] * [[IKS Ning'tao|IKS Ning'tao]] * [[IKS Orantho|IKS Orantho]] * [[IKS Pagh|IKS Pagh]] * [[IKS Rotarran|IKS Rotarran]] * [[IKS Slivin|IKS Slivin]] * [[IKS Vorn|IKS Vorn]] * [[IKS Y'tem|IKS Y'tem]] Unnamed * Unnamed Klingon Birds-of-Prey ** "[[HMS Bounty|HMS Bounty]]" ** Chang's Bird-of-Prey ** Dukat's Bird-of-Prey ** Duras sisters' Bird-of-Prey ** K'Vada's Bird-of-Prey ** Kang's Bird-of-Prey ** Klaa's Bird-of-Prey Appendices Appearances * TOS films: ** Star Trek III: The Search for Spock ** Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ** Star Trek V: The Final Frontier ** Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country * TNG: ** "A Matter of Honor" ** "The Defector" ** "[[Yesterday's Enterprise|Yesterday's Enterprise]]" (K'vort-class) ** "Sins of the Father" ** "Reunion" ** "The Mind's Eye" ** "Redemption, Part I" ** "Redemption II" ** "Unification I" ** "Unification II" ** "Rascals" (B'rel-class) ** "Firstborn" * TNG films: ** Star Trek Generations (D12-class) * DS9: ** "Past Prologue" ** "Blood Oath" ** "The Way of the Warrior" ** "Return to Grace" ** "Sons of Mogh" ** "Rules of Engagement" ** "Shattered Mirror" ** "Apocalypse Rising" ** "In Purgatory's Shadow" ** "By Inferno's Light" ** "Soldiers of the Empire" ** "Call to Arms" ** "A Time to Stand" ** "Sons and Daughters" ** "Favor the Bold" ** "Sacrifice of Angels" ** "You Are Cordially Invited... ** "Tears of the Prophets" ** "Image in the Sand" ** "Once More Unto the Breach" ** "Strange Bedfellows" ** "The Changing Face of Evil" ** "When It Rains..." ** "Tacking Into the Wind" ** "What You Leave Behind" * VOY: ** "Unity" Mirror Universe The Klingon Bird-of-Prey also appeared as a Klingon-Cardassian Alliance ship in the mirror universe in the episodes DS9: "Crossover" and "Through the Looking Glass". (See: Mirror universe starships) Behind the Scenes The Klingon Bird-of-Prey was designed by ILM visual effects art directors Nilo Rodis and Dave Carson. Leonard Nimoy was involved in selecting the design concepts of the class, and Bill George built the prototype studio model for this vessel. In an early draft of the script, the Klingon Bird-of-Prey was originally to be a stolen Romulan vessel (the red "feather design" of the wings' underside was designed with the original Romulan Bird-of-Prey in mind), but that detail was dropped from the final draft. References * Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual * Star Trek: Starship Spotter Category:Klingon starship classes de:Klingonischer Bird-of-Prey nl:Klingon Roofvogel